My Many Names

In Hungary, Jewish children received an echte Hungarian name, like Atilla or Bela, and a Jewish Hebrew name. I have my original Hungarian name, Tibor, just like a Mongol chieftain, and in addition, 3 or 4 Hebrew names, like Jacob- Itzhak, etc. Among the Ashkenazim, it is common to grant another life to the souls of the dead by giving their names to newborn babies. In my town, I was the first baby born after the war. I was one baby while the dead were very many, so I had to give life to many uncles and relatives that did not come back from Auschwitz. As the years went by, I succeeded in doing my part in this magical chore.  My dear uncle Moyshi Abelesz was always asking my mother to remember the names of the family's dead, saying that he had run out of the names he remembered. The souls of the killed had been all metaphorically re-incarnated in young Jewboys studying Gemara in the Batey Ungarin of Jerusalem. 

In my case, the doctor in charge of the brisz had no experience with Jewish customs or whatever, and I was in danger of bleeding to death. Since it was well known that the Moylech HaMoyves, the Angel of Death, is not the sharpest pencil of the celestial drawer and is always confusing names and addresses, my parents cheated the Angel by giving me another name, Hayim, meaning Life.